To Be a Warrior
by Petitio Principii
Summary: Alina is a normal girl in a world, 300 years after the Great Fire War, where benders are rare and treated like royalty. She believes that she can amount to nothing without bending, but will a trip to the past change her perspective?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. What I DO own is this story and my original characters.**

**A/N:**_ Okay, I surprised all of my readers with a fic in a category you had no idea I liked. I've been hooked on Avatar recently, but I'm too lazy to add it to my neverending list of faves, so deal. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this fic! The basic idea is used a LOT (and I 3 it to death) but I added my own original twists, so you haven't read anything like this before!  
__Has anyone realised that every fic where someone travels to the Avatar-verse they gain bending powers, besides me?_

**│To Be a Warrior│  
│Prologue│  
**

Alina heaved the loaded barrel onto the cart. She wiped the sweat from her brow and pushed her medium-length dirty blonde hair from her chocolate brown eyes. She shifted her gaze up to the sky as if looking at the sun would make it stop burning. She looked back to the cart that was now filled with barrels and sighed thinking of the journey back home.

Normally that would be the least difficult part. But normally, Alina had Kayo with her. The thought of Kayo brought a scowl to Alina's face. Kayo was the boy who was Alina's only friend, and as they had recently discovered, an earthbender. Being as they discovered this fact in public while loading that same cart with supplies, word traveled fast enough for Kayo to take up residence in the palace that same day.

You may be confused. You see, Alina lives in a time three hundred years after the Great Fire War so benders are much scarcer than before. To be a bender was something that deserved power, prestige, and honor. Benders were the elite fighting force, those with the ultimate power only second to the Avatar.

After Kayo had left Alina, the blonde had tried bending more times than she could count. Much to her dismay, all attempts proved futile. Alina concluded she was just destined to be worthless.

Alina set herself back to the task at hand. She grabbed the handle at the back of the cart and pushed as hard as she could. She continued pushing the heavy cart at a slow and steady pace back to her foster home.

Suddenly something by Alina's feet caught her eyes. She paused her work and bent over to examine the piece. It was an intricately designed blue stone on a dark navy ribbon. The ribbon was frayed and the stone looked like had seen better times. It reminded Alina of the calm waves of the ocean.

"Someone has stolen the sacred necklace of Lady Katara!" someone screamed loudly, the sound causing Alina to avert her gaze. Alina knew who Lady Katara was. Everyone did. She was the great Water Bender who traveled by the side of Avatar Aang. She was the woman who helped save the world from the chaotic path it was traveling. Alina also knew how the artifacts from that time were ceremonially passed from one town to the other signifying peace among the nations.

Alina looked nervously to the necklace in her hand. _'Could it be?'_ she wondered incredulously, frozen in a state of shock. "You there!" the voice of a guard knocked her back to reality, "Hand over that necklace!" _'Calm down,' _she reasoned, _'Just tell them you found it. Just…RUN!'_ Leaving the cart behind, Alina sprinted as fast as she could from the guards. She ignored the logic that she would look guiltier if she ran.

Lucky for Alina, she knew the layout of the town much better than the traveling guards. She evaded them by many alleyways, and finally stopped to catch her breath once she lost their trail. Her breathing was heavy as she opened the hand that was clenching the necklace. She admired it, gently caressing it with her other hand. _'This was touched by a waterbender. The greatest waterbender!'_ she thought in awe. Suddenly the stone started to pulse with light, startling Alina and causing her to drop it to the ground. The pulsing soon started glowing more rapidly and the dirty blonde backed into the wall.

As suddenly as it started, the pulsing ceased. Alina waited for a moment, unsure of what to do. Slowly and hesitantly, she kneeled to the ground. Alina extended her hand to the necklace, her breath quickening with every centimeter.

When Alina finally touched the stone, there was a great flash of light, and she was gone.

**│Prologue End│**

**A/N: **_Ooh, how mysterious. I hope you liked it! Also, I watched the Waterbending scroll again to check, but as far as I can tell Zuko never returned Katara's necklace, right? I just want to be sure.  
And rememeber, fics might be the fire that supplies with energy, but reviews are the coal the fuels it!  
(I think I heard that somewhere...)_


	2. Confusion is Inevitable

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**To Be a Warrior**

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**Disclaimer**  
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I do own my original character and original ideas.

**Summary  
**Alina is a normal girl in a world, 300 years after the Great Fire War, where benders are rare and treated like royalty. She believes that she can amount to nothing without bending, but will a trip to the past change her perspective?

**Author's Note  
**I reread my prologue and all I can say is _EW!_ I didn't realize how repetitious and mundane I sounded. It's been fixed in this chapter though.  
And thanks to my reviewers _Khazia_ and _Evangeline-Angel_. You people rock!

'------------'

**Chapter 1**

**Confusion is Inevitable**

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Alina squeezed her eyes shut at the intensity of the blinding flash. When the light finally subsided, the blonde fell to her knees and examined her surroundings. Instead of finding herself to be sprawled out on the middle of an Earth Kingdom street, however, Alina was surprised to discover she was in some sort of forest. Apparently there had been some sort of a time lapse, seeing as the blazing sun was replaced with a crescent moon.

"Katara, did you see that?" a masculine voice urgently whispered through the darkness.

Alina's body froze at the sound, and not just from wanting to remain silent and hidden. Ever since the time of the Great Fire War, it had been an unspoken rule to be named or called by that of the hero or heroine. For the boy to refer to his friend by that name so casually made Alina's blood boil. '_How dare they!' _she mentally fumed, outraged that they defiled Lady Katara in such a manner. Unconsciously, Alina gripped the sacred necklace tighter in her hand.

"That big flash? Yeah, I did. I'll go check it out." a feminine voice replied in a softer manner.

Alina was all too aware of the footsteps drawing nearer and nearer to where she sat, but still could not bring her body to move. It was not until she was met face-to-face with an exotic brunette that she bolted as fast as she could.

'------------'

Katara could only catch a glimpse of the retreating figure before it was out of sight. She was almost positive that it was a female, but most else was discernable due to the lack of enough moonlight.

She heaved a sigh, then headed back to their makeshift camp. Sokka and Katara had stayed with Appa while Aang went to the local marketplace. His reasoning was that not only was Appa too noticeable, but less people ('Including the store owners,' Katara had huffed) were also a nice asset. Katara had insisted that either she or Sokka go as they would attract less attention, but Aang had been insistent.

"Did you see anyone?" Sokka questioned a bit impatiently.

"Yeah," Katara answered, "but I couldn't get a good look. It looked female."

There was silence as Katara slipped into her sleeping bag. "We better keep a lookout then, it could be a Fire Nation spy. Do you want me to stay up and keep watch?"

Katara shook her head. "Don't worry about it Sokka. She seemed more scared of us than us of her." She rested her head to the ground and heard a soft thump that caused her to believe her brother had done the same.

Still, she couldn't help but feel uneasiness in the pit of her stomach.

'------------'

"Rise and shine, Prince Zuko!" Iroh's voice rang from outside the Fire Prince's door. Creasing his brow in annoyance, Zuko groggily rose from his bed, annoyed at the actions of his uncle.

Sighing in annoyance, he spoke, "What is it, Uncle? It better be important to wake me at this ungodly hour of the morning."

"First of all, Prince Zuko, this is no 'ungodly hour' as you have said and it is hardly morning. The time would now be noon. I simply woke you figuring you would like to join me to Port Zhu Se's marketplace. We're getting rather low on supplies, as you know."

Zuko held his head and trudged over to his dresser with a quick, "I'll be ready soon, Uncle." Ever since _that _night, the night he had rescued the Avatar from Commander Zhao, his sleep was restless. The young prince couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing.

After quickly changing into his clothes, Zuko somewhat reluctantly followed his Uncle to the marketplace.

'------------'

Alina woke when the sun was high in the sky. She rubbed her eyes, the light of the sun reminding her of how she had arrived at this place. _'What is this place, anyway?'_ she wondered, still confused on exactly what happened and still questioning whether or not she was dreaming.

Last night, after running a safe distance from the girl she had encountered, Alina had collapsed to the forest floor. The dirty blonde still wondered what had caused her to be so tired. It was then she realized somewhere along the way she had misplaced _the_ necklace, causing her to move about in a frenzy. After locating the said necklace, Alina decided very grudgingly that the necklace would be safest around her neck. As the Earth Kingdom girl fastened the piece around her neck, she still felt guilty about the act.

Alina had finally conceded into sleep near the trunks of a tall tree.

Now, Alina raised her arms high above her head in a mighty yawn. She rose from the ground, brushed herself off, then proceeded to explore. After walking a bit less than a mile, Alina encountered her first signs of civilization.

The marketplace was teeming with life; people talking of this and that, furious customers haggling with shopkeepers, shoppers running to and fro, and workers heaving various packages. It reminded Alina of home, though this marketplace she could be more appreciative of considering she was not one of the underpaid workers. (Alina was especially underpaid considering she earned no pay for her work whatsoever.)

She stood in sheer amazement of it all – it all looked so full of life, unlike her small town. The sacred necklace danced with light in the sun, catching the attention of two certain travelers.

"Thief!" rang out across the marketplace, and before Alina had a chance to process anything, her arm was roughly seized by a teenager with a gruesome scar across his left eye.

'------------'

Ooh, a cliffhanger! (Well, sort of…)

Hopefully you can tell a difference between the prologue and this chapter. (Once again, sorry about that. This is my first third person writing.)

Also, in case you couldn't tell, this takes place AFTER The Blue Spirit, but BEFORE all the new episodes. (My plot would be somewhat obsolete if Zuko didn't have Katara's necklace in possession…)

Oh, and would you people rather have a mention of Zutara, a mention of (err…) Kaatang (?), or just no mention of either? I'm just a'wondering since it's not really essential to the plot. (I might not even include it at all, I'd just like to know your preference…)

Thanks, once again, to all my reviewers! I LOVE you people!


	3. Of Necklaces

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**To Be a Warrior**

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**Disclaimer**  
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I do own my original character and original ideas.

**Summary  
**Alina is a normal girl in a world, 300 years after the Great Fire War, where benders are rare and treated like royalty. She believes that she can amount to nothing without bending, but will a trip to the past change her perspective?

**Author's Note  
**Aah, sorry for the long wait – but I update this fiction more frequently than my others! (Depressing, isn't it?)  
As for the pairing thing – I stick to no mention of either, save for how the canon does things. (For instance, Aang likes Katara – but we don't know how she feels.) I tried to make it as canon-like as possible  
Thanks to my reviewers _Khazia_, _FireGurl107_, _Sleeping Dragon13, _and_ Evangeline-Angel._ You guys are the best!

Again, sorry for the late update.

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**Chapter 2  
Of Necklaces**

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"Hey, Katara!" Aang's excited voice echoed through Katara's eardrums, forcing her from her peaceful slumber.

Sokka watched the scene, amused, from his perch atop Appa. The water tribe peasant rested his chin on his hand and stared at the pair that was oblivious to his spying.

"Ugh…What is it Aang?" she replied groggily, holding her head as she wearily rose from the ground.

"I…um…well, when I was at the marketplace last night I just so _happened _to find a necklace that matched your outfit. I figured since you lost your old one, you could just wear this one!" the airbender proudly showed the necklace to Katara with a wide grin on his face with a slight blush to match.

Sokka suppressed the urge to chuckle. _'So that's why he was so adamant about going alone to the marketplace last night,' _he mused, _'What a hopeless romantic.'_ Yes, the warrior knew about Aang's infatuation with Katara; and by no means did he oppose it. Who better out there for his sister than the Avatar? Of course, Katara hadn't exactly seemed to return his affections; instead she was actually quite oblivious. Then again, at this point she could end up with anyone. (Save Firelord Ozai. Sokka had gagged at _that_ mental image.)

"Thanks, Aang," she smiled genuinely, accepting the gift and fastening it around her neck.

Sokka just grinned, and then feigned sleep.

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Needless to say, Alina was now not only completely confused, but angry to boot. Why, you may ask? The Earth Kingdom girl had literally been dragged upon an old-fashioned ship and into its empty prison-hold by a seething teen - who had yet to explain his reasoning. Instead, the dark-haired boy found it fit to pound her with questions.

"Tell me now – how did you steal that necklace from me?" he spoke, his gruff and authoritative tone annoying the blonde.

"I didn't steal it from _you_!" she spat back; quite brave considering she was bound by her hands and feet as of now.

"But you _do_ admit to stealing it," he smirked in reply. Alina's face scrunched up in slight rage. Zuko bent forward, cupping the necklace now in his possession in his hand. "But it looks oh so familiar," he breathed in her face, "It looks just like the one I just happen to own. Now you better start answering truthfully, thief."

"I _am_!" Alina all but screamed, catching the attention of the elder in the doorway.

"I was going to ask you how the interrogation was going, Prince Zuko, but I no longer feel the need," the old man smiled.

"It's going _fine_, Uncle," the boy known as Zuko spoke through gritted teeth.

The boy's uncle only smiled wider in reply, kneeling down to Alina's height. "So, what is your name? It's hardly polite for us to refer to you as 'thief' or the like."

Zuko sighed, exasperated at his Uncle's actions. Seeing as what the old man was doing was annoying the Prince, Alina decided to go along with it. "Alina, Sir," she smiled, "May I ask yours?"

"Don't talk to her like that, Uncle! She's a _prisoner_!" Zuko yelled, even further annoyed.

"I find that people talk more willingly when they are comfortable, Nephew," he replied with an air of wisdom about him. Alina wondered how a man could be so open and kind to his own prisoners; _'Even if they didn't do anything,'_ the blonde added mentally. Zuko's uncle turned his gaze back to her, then inquired, "What nation are you, Alina?" the question was most likely meant to come out with a friendly tone, but Alina found it to be somewhat cold.

"Earth," she stuttered only slightly. While the old man could be quite benevolent, something about him unnerved her - a wisdom; something one could only achieve when they witnessed death. It was hidden, but it was there.

Zuko rose from his kneel in a fiery rage. "How can you say that so calmly on a _Fire Nation_ ship?" he demanded.

"I don't see how the ship being Fire Nation would matter," Alina retaliated coolly, though a bit confused.

The Fire Prince grunted, then left the room. His uncle followed suit, sending a final, confused glance back at the Earth Kingdom peasant.

Alina groaned to herself. _'I still have no idea what's going on.'_

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Zuko marched back to his compartment with the Avatar's companion's necklace in his hand. Steam was literally rising from him – the nerve of the prisoner enraged him. How could and Earth Kingdom peasant (that much he gathered by the shabbiness of her clothes) speak to him in such a manner! He was_ prince_ of the Fire Nation – a banished prince, but a prince nonetheless!

One things confused him, however – the girl's final statement. Had she been _feigning_ ignorance or was she actually oblivious to the war? Zuko settled on the former.

Once inside, the prince placed the necklace atop his dresser. He proceeded to open the drawer he had originally kept the trinket in only to find something that caused his eyes to widen.

It was the necklace.

And aside from a few scuff marks, the two were one and the same.

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**Author's Note II  
**Ooh…you _so_ saw that coming. And no, Alina still hasn't figured out she's in the past. She isn't some omniscient being that knows all.  
Oh, yes. Sorry this update isn't as long as it should be.

Until next time, my wonderful readers!


	4. Foolishness

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**To Be a Warrior**

.-- -- -- -- -- -x- -- -- -- -- --.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, though I do own my original character and my original ideas.

**Summary**

Alina is a normal girl in a world, 300 years after the Great Fire War, where benders are treated like royalty. She believes she can amount to nothing with bending, but will a trip to the past change her perspective?

**Author's Note**

Updates are very spaced out, I know. Sorry.

Thanks to my reviewers for last chapter – _Evangeline Angel and SnowBlueRat_.

A quick note: as before, I stated this takes place _before_ the episode The Fortune Teller and yes, that is quite a while back. This was created a while ago after all.. So Katara's necklace isn't just a betrothal necklace as in canon – my plot makes it out to be something else.

This is updated just because I had some stuff lying around on it so I wrote some more just because I'm updating many of my fics today.

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**Chapter 3**

Foolishness

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The banished prince of the Fire Nation, known by the name Zuko, stared at the two necklaces he currently held in his hands. In his right: a glimmering, flawless gem on a navy ribbon; in his left: the exact same, aside from aging marks. His interest in a certain Earth Kingdom peasant down in the prison hold skyrocketed.

How was it possible?

Setting the one he owned (though technically he had stolen it) atop his dresser, he ran his fingers on the one he had acquired from the girl apparently called Alina. The only really strange thing about the girl was her obliviousness to the war, though it had been apparent that was a farce.

Right?

Prince Zuko wasn't feeling sure of nearly anything as of now.

Suddenly, the young prince was broken from his thoughts by a loud clanging and thunderous footsteps. His uncle, General Iroh, skidded to a halt before his open doorway.

"Zuko, it's the Avatar! He's been spotted!" he huffed, urgency in his voice.

Pushing all thoughts of silly girls and necklaces aside, Zuko hastily threw the necklace in the dresser and followed his Uncle out the door.

He had better things to set his mind on than that peasant, anyway.

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Alina sighed as she leaned back on the dank wall of her prison cell, her hands and ankles still tightly bound. She didn't see why they took the extra precaution; it wasn't like she was a _bender_ or anything.

But was that impulsive boy – Zuko was his name – was _he_ a bender? He certainly couldn't have achieved the title of 'prince' without bending powers to his aid. Yes, she was sure the teen was a fire bender.

It irked her though: why were the Prince and his uncle treating her Earth Kingdom heritage like it was something utterly foul? After she had revealed her roots, the boy became even more hostile towards her; though she hardly could perceive why that would matter.

In fact, Alina wasn't quite sure what sense to make of anything as of now.

Setting the duo's apparent spite of all things 'earth' aside, why were they even keeping her a _prison _just for _stealing_? Sure, it was the sacred necklace of Lady Katara but…well, that was a pretty good explanation. That still didn't cover why the prince had claimed it was _his_ necklace in the first place, however.

Only a fool would claim such an empty truth. And no fool could be a prince – or a bender for that matter. Benders were too gifted to be foolish.

She, however, could obviously be as foolish as need be. Which was probably why she wasn't gifted with the ability to bend.

Frantic shouting from overhead broke her reverie, and the girl stiffened at all the excitement. The guard near the entrance to the prison-hold nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if debating whether to leave the hold to aid his comrades.

'_Please, **please** leave. Your buddies need you, I'm sure.'_ Alina mentally pleaded.

With one last hesitant glance back at the Earth Kingdom girl, the guard presumably hurried off to the main deck. He obviously didn't think she was going to be getting anywhere; hence her normality and bound limbs.

Alina thought differently, though. Sure, she didn't calculate herself much of a threat to _anyone _much less a ship full of Fire nation _soldiers_, but she was determined to escape her confinement.

Once she imagined the guard to have left hearing distance from her cell she began her feeble attempts at escape.

Banging repeatedly on the cells doors didn't work, but she was fairly sure that tactic wouldn't be successful in the first place. More of a warm-up than anything, really.

Trying to wear down the ropes that bound her hands on the cell bars didn't exactly work, either.

After a frustrated kick at the cell door, her right leg ached a bit so she decided that idea was a lost cause.

She hadn't exactly planned on gnawing at the rope, but her persistence outweighed her sanity at that point.

'_If I were a firebender, I could singe these ropes off. If I were an Earthbender I could surely summon something sharp enough to cut these binds on. If I were an airbender I could use the combined force of my body and the air to break though the cell. If I were a waterbender, I could most likely stir up enough trouble with the waves outside. But I'm just human – so I'm stuck here like the weakling I am.'_

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"Where is he?" Prince Zuko gruffly demanded, his crew shrinking back slightly at his look of sheer determination.

One stepped forward, his eyes holding slight fear of his leader. "There was a report that he was sighted in the market place last night, sir. Surely they must be staying in the nearby woods."

Zuko lashed out at the soldier, fury on his features. "Last night? LAST NIGHT? What makes you think they could actually still be here, or even in the vicinity for that matter?"

"I'm s-sorry, sir, I-," he began, but was abruptly cut off by shouts of men. The Avatar's bison soared in the sky ahead of them, somehow oblivious to the commotion it caused.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. The Avatar would be his.

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"THE AVATAR HAS BEEN SPOTTED! ALL HANDS REPORT TO THE DECK!" The frantic shouting echoed through Alina's ears, and she desperately wished she could cover her ears.

The Avatar? Been spotted?

This only served to confuse the peasant girl even more. Wasn't the Avatar dwelling at the center of all lands? Certainly not here, not on this ship!

'_There's something odd going on here,'_ she thought to herself, _'And I get the feeling that I'm definitely not just somewhere else on the globe. It seems many things function differently here; I just can't place where I might be. …Could it just be an elaborate dream?'_

Her final hypothesis seemed the most probable – what were the chances of her actually _finding_ Lady Katara's necklace, mush less_ getting away _with it? Yes, this had to be some sort of dream. The only explanation, really.

But then why did her leg she hurt from kicking the cell? And why could she smell the dank scent of blood and sweat in the prison hold? Why did everything seem so real?

Her head hurt.

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Aang goaded Appa onward with a "Yip-yip!", and soon the trio had once again taken flight.

"Aang, are you sure we should be flying in broad daylight?" Sokka questioned the young boy, feeling a sense of foreboding.

"I was in the marketplace last night," the Avatar began, "So we should leave as soon as we can, regardless of what time of day it is."

The Water tribe warrior sent his sister a skeptical look, and she replied with a reassuring smile. Katara then rested her chin on her knees, one hand by her side and another on her newfound necklace.

'_I feel like I should've told Aang about that girl, but I suppose it hardly matters now,'_ the waterbender thought to herself, closing her eyes as the wind rushed by her body.

Her serenity, however, was quickly broken as a sizzling boulder of fire rushed just by her head. She screamed on an impulse, the quickly looked to Aang who was already making evasive maneuvers. Sokka was muttering something incoherent under his breath, but Katara could assume what it was along the lines of.

'_Throws a fit every time he's right,'_ the girl mentally scoffed at his actions.

Appa's sudden evasive jerk knocked her from her thoughts as she grabbed hold of the saddle as a knee-jerk reaction. She peered from over the animal's side, a glare settling on her face once she recognized Zuko's ship.

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**Author's Note II**

Well, these's my short little creation.I can't promise how much I'll update this – it's not the top of my priority list.

Thanks to all readers and an extra special thank-you to all reviewers!


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